R32 (New York City Subway car) - RollOverTheFloor
The R32 is a New York City Subway car model built by the Budd Company from 1964 to 1965 for the IND/BMT B Division. Description The R32s are numbered 3350–3949, but some cars have been re-numbered outside of this range or to different numbers in this range. They were the first cars to introduce all mylar route and destination rollsigns instead of the former cotton cloth or linen type rollsigns found on all older cars. The R32 contract was divided into two subcontracts of 300 cars each: the Phase I R32s (cars 3350-3649) and the Phase II R32s (cars 3650-3949). The Phase II R32s were funded through the proceeds of a revenue bond, while the Phase I R32s were paid for out of the 1963–1964 New York City capital budget. The two subcontracts differed only in interior lighting; cars 3800-3949 of the Phase I R32s had interior lighting featuring backlit ad-signs. The R32s were the first mass-produced stainless steel cars built for the New York City Subway. Two previous Budd orders (the BMT Zephyr and the R11s) were limited production orders. The horizontally ribbed, shiny, and unpainted stainless exteriors of the R32s earned the cars the nickname Brightliners. The use of stainless steel reduced the weight of each car by over 4,000 pounds, when compared to previous models. History In June 1963, the New York City Transit Authority contracted with Budd for 600 IND/BMT cars (300 pairs) to replace older equipment (cars that had exceeded the TA's 35-year limit of age), including the BMT D-type Triplex articulated cars and some of the BMT Standards. At the time, this was the largest railcar order ever placed in the United States for subway cars. The cars were ordered for $68,820,000, of which half was provided by New York City and half through the sale of bonds by the New York City Transit Authority. Budd had bid on previous contracts with the NYCTA, but had never won a City contract for a production run of cars until the R32s, as Budd built only stainless-steel equipment and the TA refused to allow a differential in competitive bids for this higher-quality construction. Budd won the contract by offering the lowest bid of $114,700 per car. The next lowest bidder came in at $117,900 per car, which was for low-alloy steel cars. Budd low-balled the price to win the contract and introduce stainless steel equipment to the modern New York City Subway system, a plan that was met with limited success. NYCTA allowed a premium for subsequent stainless steel contracts, and all subsequent equipment was at least partly constructed of stainless steel. However, the Budd Company never benefited from the change, as Budd failed to win further contracts from the NYCTA, and the company has since halted production of railroad cars. On August 18, 1964, the NYCTA approved a modification to the 300 R32s already constructed. The modification was required to ensure proper clearance in tunnels. Since the cars were 4000 pounds lighter than other subway cars when new, they did not sink as low on standard trucks and springs. The modification involved the modification of the body bolster. A ceremonial introduction trip for the new R32 "Brightliners" cars was held on September 9, 1964, operating from the New York Central Railroad's Mott Haven Yards in the Bronx to Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. The new cars were then placed into service on the Q''' on September 14, 1964, after their New York Central's spring-loaded under-running third rail shoes were replaced with gravity-type overrunning subway third rail shoes. The R32s were originally assigned to the BMT Southern Division service only, initially on the Brighton Line ('''Q train) and the Sea Beach Line (N''' train), but were eventually reassigned to the West End Line ('''D train). Cars 3946–3949 were delivered with Pioneer trucks and disc brakes in 1966. These trucks were replaced with standard trucks in 1976. In 1974, cars 3700-3701 were sent to Garrett AiResearch's facilities in Los Angeles, California to have test out Flywheel energy storage system equipment. 3700 received energy conservation machinery with batteries and amber-type digital readout indicating the amount of energy used by the equipment, while 3701 remained un-modified. These cars were later tested at the UMTA, and the US Department of Transportation's Testing Facilities in Pueblo, Colorado for evaluation, and were returned to the MTA in 1976 for in-service testing on all BMT/IND Lines to check the effectiveness of the technology. Retirement Initial retirements The R160s replaced most of the R32s in the late 2000s. The Phase II R32s were gradually phased out from the summer of 2008 through the summer of 2009. A few Phase I R32s followed afterwards until January 2010, when it was decided to retire all NYCT R44s in place of the remaining R32s instead. The retired R32s were first stripped of various parts to keep the remaining fleet alive, just before being sunk as artificial reefs. Remaining fleet The remaining 250 R32s kept in revenue service are assigned to the 207th Street Yard in Manhattan, operating on the A. As of September 2019, all remaining R32s in revenue service are 55 years old, the second oldest railcar in the world to operate in active service since 2017. The R32s had survived well past their specified service life of 35 years; they were the oldest rolling stock since the retirement of the Redbird trains, and the oldest rolling stock of any metro system in North America, as well as some of the oldest rolling stock of any metro system anywhere in the world. According to railfan James Greller, they are often cited for their superior durability and craftsmanship; some of the B Division models that followed them (R38, R40, R42, and R44) have been retired. Despite their considerable structural quality, the remaining R32s suffered from low mechanical quality in the 2010s. The R32s have the lowest Mean Distance Between Failures figures of the active fleet, mainly because of their age. Others criticized the R32s for their appearance and lack of comfort; in August 2011, The New York Times called the R32s "a dreary reminder to passengers of an earlier subterranean era", and claimed that "time has taken a toll" on the cars. The R211s are expected to replace all remaining R32s beginning in 2020. They have underwent their Scheduled Maintenance System (SMS) cycle in 2013 at a cost of $25 million to extend their usefulness until retirement. In popular culture The cars in the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV are based on both R32 and R38 fleets. All cars in the game are heavily vandalized with graffiti. A train of R32s was featured in the 2015 film Bridge of Spies, despite the fact that the film is set a decade prior to their manufacture. They were the oldest available rolling stock to form a realistic 10-car train for exterior filming. Interior shots were done with a more period-appropriate R11/R34 from the New York Transit Museum.